1999 Massachusetts Statewide SET Drill Report
Massachusetts Statewide SET Report...Massachusetts National Guard
Sponsored Y2K Drill Report by Robert Macedo, KD1CY, ARES SKYWARN
Coordinator for NWS Taunton with contributions from SKYWARN
Coordinators, RACES Radio Officers, and ARES/RACES/SKYWARN net controls
and Emergency Management Directors as noted by section.
Report from the National Weather Service in Taunton Massachusetts by
Rob Macedo, KD1CY:
The Massachusetts National Guard in conjunction with Massachusetts
ARES/RACES/SKYWARN and Air Force and Army MARS conducted a drill
to simulate a Y2K Communications outage along with an ice storm that
effected much of Southern New England, similiar to an ice storm that
occurred in Northern New England in January, 1998. The drill was
conducted on Saturday September 11th. The SKYWARN activation for
this drill was started at 9 AM through 3 PM. Glenn Field, Warning
Coordination Meteorologist at NWS Taunton wrote Special Weather
Statements on the storm based on statements from the actual
ice storm that occurred in Maine. John Jensenius, Warning
Coordination Meteorologist at NWS Gray Maine provided this
information for us. Special thanks to John Jensenius and Glenn
Field for their efforts.
SKYWARN nets were requested to activate at 9 AM and take check-ins
of either weather in the ice storm drill scenario, or actual weather
conditions that they were experiencing for that day. NWS Taunton
activated at 9 AM and made contact with MEMA Framingham on the
6 meter 53.31 Mount Wachusett Repeater. We were told by Tom Kinahan,
N1CPE, Massachusetts State RACES Radio Officer that the repeater
had been brought down due to a Y2K issue, and communicated briefly
on 6 meter simplex before moving to the 147.15 Framingham Repeater
to establish communications with MEMA. A statement concerning the
ice storm that was about ready to impact the region was read to
MEMA HQ.
Following that, roving to various repeaters took place beginning
with the 145.49 Fairhaven Repeater and then moving to the 147.18
Bridgewater, 146.64 Waltham, and 146.97 Paxton Repeaters.
Stations present that acted as liaison and net controls for
these frequencies included, N1FYZ, Carl Aveni, and WA1GDJ Gil
Follett, South Shore SKYWARN Coordinator on the 147.18 Bridgewater
Repeater, Dave Doe, K1HRV, and Roger Turner, W1ZSA on the
146.895 Walpole Repeater, and Marc Stern, WA1R, and
Bill Ricker, N1VUX on the 146.64 Waltham Repeater. Also, N1VDX
Steve Woodward, and KA1BSH, Jim Thomson, also relayed reports from
the Haverhill Repeater on 146.625 to NWS as needed on Waltham. We
also contacted them on the Haverhill Repeater but its at the limits
of the range of the equipment at NWS to contact them on the
Haverhill Repeater.
Communications were established with all repeaters and functional
SKYWARN groups on those repeaters as during a regular activation.
Tactical messages on the current weather situation were handled
as appropriate and net reports gathered from all the various nets.
A piece of formal message traffic from Don Horton, N1ISB was relayed
through the Area III Belechertown MEMA HQ with no issues as Eric,
N1QKO, Western Massachusetts Assistant SKYWARN Coordinator passed along
the traffic message.
Continued communications of the ice storm was handled through the
6 meter 53.31 MHz Mount Wachusett Repeater. Having this repeater for
liaison between MEMA and Western Massachusetts and Connecticut has
been quite useful for numerous drills and actual activations since
NWS received the 6 meter/HF radio and antenna system in July of 1998.
During the drill, two other items of interest were handled. Hurricane
Floyd, which was an intensifying powerful hurricane was threatening
the US East Coast, advisory messages and guidance from NWS Taunton
Meteorologists on the possible effects of Floyd to the region
were relayed to several nets during the actual drill to allow
for further planning for Floyd's impact which was expected to
be by Thursday into Friday of that week.
Also, the night before the drill, excessive rainfall amounts of
3-9" of rain fell across Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island
causing flooding of many areas. Additional reports of flooding,
and final rain guage totals from that storm were handled during
the drill. This information was included in final reports on
that event by Neal Strauss at NWS Taunton.
Call in to the various nets setup across the state were handled
right through until 3 PM. Tom Pratt, N1KKY, upon completion
of the RACES Net on the 145.37 Templeton Repeater, activated
the Worcester/Templeton Repeater link and gathered a few additional
stations to check into the drill up until 2 PM and then the link
was deactivated and the informal net secured on that frequency.
All repeaters were checked into approximately once every two hours
if not sooner for additional check-ins and information either in
the drill scenario or real reports of current weather conditions.
At 3 PM, NWS Taunton relayed to MEMA Headquarters and to all other
nets that the SKYWARN Actvation for the National Guard Y2K Drill
Exercise was completed and thanked all for their support and for
the use of the repeaters for the timeframe of the drill.
At this time a total of 173 amateur radio operators participated
in this drill, and including Massachusetts, there were check-ins
from a total of 4 states. Along with Massachusetts, stations
also checked in from Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New York
State.
If there are any additional amateurs that participated in this
drill, please let me know for inclusion in this report. If
anyone has a report that they would like included in this
drill report, please contact me as soon as possible. By
November, a copy of this report will be circulated to the
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather
Service in Taunton, Massachusetts, and the American Radio Relay
League Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut.
Here are reports from other SKYWARN Coordinators and NCS's,
and RACES Radio Officers and Emergency Management Directors:
The following is my report of the Statewide Simulated Emergency Test
(SET) held on Saturday September 11, 1999.
The purpose of this SET is to exercise the Massachusetts RACES, ARES,
and SKYWARN organization in a coordinated statewide simulated
emergency. The event simulated Y2K, or New Years day on January 1,
2000, in conjunction with a winter storm involving icing, modeled
after the Northern New England ice storm a few years ago that
crippled that area. In the course of working on the scenario for
this drill, we found that the Massachusetts National Guard had
planned a drill with the same scenario for roughly the same time of
year, so we moved our drill to coincide with the drill of the
National Guard.
The specific scenario had midnight simulated at 7am on September 11th
at 7am. For the purposes of the drill, we decided not to ask
participants to convert the simulated time, and messages were filed in
real local time. Events that were reported used relative time
indicating events occurring a number of hours in the past or future.
SKYWARN operators were asked to check in to SKYWARN nets and provide
actual current observations, or predict the weather on Y2K. Because of
recent rain and flooding events, Rob Macedo at the SKYWARN desk at
NWS Taunton requested actual rainfall amounts and flooding reports from
the recent weather event the day before.
The specific scenario had midnight simulated at 7am on September 11th
at 7am. For the purposes of the drill, we decided not to ask
participants to convert the simulated time, and messages were filed
in real local time. Events that were reported used relative time
indicating events occurring a number of hours in the past or future.
We began the SET at seven AM, with a call up of MEMA Area 1, 2 and
3 RACES stations on 53.31. All areas were operational and had
acknowledged traffic by 7:42 am that set the ground rules for the
exercise.
All Area RACES Officers had copies of the draft state RACES plan,
and many individual town RACES operators had requested and been sent
a copy electronically.
One of my concerns in this event is that we keep the operators busy
enough that they don’t get bored, which can happen in this sort of
event. I had asked for a call up of each of the RACES nets in the
state hourly, and report stations that checked in, and also to
indicate the status of their EOC within the context of the drill.
We therefore started hourly callups of Area RACES stations to
request this data. At the same time, we had also asked indicated
to all RACES net control stations that MEMA Headquarters would be
listening on certain known frequencies in the event of any failures.
The frequencies were 53.31 repeater, 448.625 Repeater, 147.15 Repeater
(located within the building) 3.943 Mhz and 144.39 APRS.
In the second hour, we started causing failures of repeater systems
as may be expected during an heavy ice storm. Each net control
station was asked to implement their backup procedures for failure of
these systems. The backup procedure is defined in the Draft RACES
Plan, but are ultimately the responsibility of the individual Net
Control station to ensure traffic passes and deal with unexpected
events. There were reports that I have not been able to confirm,
however, that net control stations ignored the failure announcement,
and continued on the normal frequency. Failures were only requested
for 1 hour at a time each, so as to not over burden the participants.
Early on, we had received word, from the National Guard, that as part
of their drill, there was a solar flare detected that was causing
disruption of communications used by pagers and satellites. Also HF
communication over more than 1000 miles was affected and not possible.
I received a phone call at MEMA during the drill, but after area 3 had
secured from a John Vanbobo N1VRC who identified himself as the Air
Force MARS director for Massachusetts. He had received a request from
Area 3 to call them on 51.31, which apparently had been a request for
them to call them on the six meter repeater, on 53.31 MHz. It appears
that the message was intended for MEMA Headquarters requesting a
contact with Area 3 on 53.31 MHz. Ultimately, as a test, and
slightly outside of the drill parameters, we attempted contact on
the FEMA frequency of 10.493 MHz but this was not possible during
the daytime between his location in Charlemont and Framingham.
Then, as director of the Massachusetts AF MARS program, he
authorized MEMA to operate on 4.590 MHz using the normal
federally assigned callsign. Contact was made with John’s station
AFA1XN for 15 minutes as we tested the connection. We made plans
for a letter of understanding that would authorize MEMA to operate
on 4.590 MHz during emergencies to contact Massachusetts MARS
stations.
How things went
We found that Area 1 was undermanned. Bruce Anderson took the morning
shift there, and Ron Reder took the afternoon shift at Area 1. Both
were alone. We found that it was very difficult to contact Area 1.
I believe this was a result of the Statewide net sharing a radio
with the Area 1 net between the Area Headquarters and each of the
net control stations. We found that most RACES channels, MEMA VHF,
and telephone were not successful in gaining the attention of the
Area 1 Operator. The best way to reach Area 1 was via MEMA 800 MHz
system, but even that was not usually successful. It meant that
Area 1 was left out of many of the scenarios of the drill, and got
news and information much later than area 2 and 3.
Area 3 East and West combined into Area 3 at Belchertown. I don’t
yet have any reports of how successful the Area 3 east coverage was.
As part of the drill, I had asked for hourly reports of check ins
to RACES nets. However, I have numerous reports that some nets were
only called up once during the drill, thus limiting the coverage,
and usefulness of the drill. People were interested in participating,
but many of the nets didn’t happen.
I received a phone call on the RACES hotline, that the Sector 1E Net
control station had not had any contact with Area 1 Headquarters. The
normal net control station was away, and a different station was
participating. He didn’t have 6 meters to contact area 1 on the
Area 1 channel. He was referred to any of the other area 1 sector net
frequencies to make contact.
Back at Framingham, as a result of one of my major goals for the
drill was to show we could all do a shift change. For the areas,
I left that problem up to them to solve individually. For us, I
recruited two additional people to supplement our usual crew.
Unfortunately, Dennis and Karen Brothers had an unexpected emergency
during the drill, that required Karen’s attention all day. Dennis
was able to break away for a while to fill in with our drill. The
good news is that they became Grandparents again!
Peter Simpson KA1AXY who is President of the Framingham Amateur Radio
Association joined me at 7am. Steve Schwarm W3EVE, the Eastern
Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator, joined us at about 10am,
and Bob Hess W1RH came in to relieve Peter at 1pm.
Both Peter and Bob are interested in participating in the RACES
program further.
After reading some of the NTS messages, we can all use a bit more
practice sending and receiving messages in the RACES / NTS format.
Navy - Marine Corp Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) for Southern
New England also held a Y2K drill in conjunction with this us. Beside
the effort of Area 3 HQ to send a message via Air Force MARS to MEMA
HQ in Framingham, no interaction was noted.
In Central Massachusetts, the Red Cross was planning to drill on
packet radio commiunications between EOCs and shelters. I have no
data on the outcome of that test.
We received indications that EOCs in the following communities were
activated for this drill: Natick, Newburyport, Chelmsford, Westford,
Marlboro, Walpole, Webster, Millbury, Leominster, Millville, Westfield,
Southwick, State of Rhode Island.
Following our understanding, I attempted to contact Dennis Zonia, the
Western Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator, via pager, to
ask his help to provide assistance to a situation that required
communication assistance in Millville. We were unable to contact
Dennis to request his help in spite of the fact that he had checked
in to an Area 3 net according to reports included here.
Lessons Learned
We continue to receive "complaints" (maybe friendly reminders) from
Area 3 communities regarding the length of the messages. I’ve
challenged these communities to invent a method of getting the same
information out, that none have taken up as of yet. Some documentation
of the issue is in the accompanying data submitted with this report.
It appears a closer alignment with the MARS organizations can prove
useful, and hopefully improve the accuracy of messages passing
between systems.
Ninety four Stations are shown as participating in RACES nets.
We need to get a list of additional names in the Western Massachusetts
ARES organization in case Dennis Zonia is unavailable.
MEMA Area III RACES Report by Steve Rodowicz, N1SR, Area III West
RACES Radio Officer, and Michael Baril, N1PSE, Area III East
RACES Radio Officer:
Verified HF capability (3943kHz).
Due to lack of antenna tuner, SSB was limited to approx 5 watts, which
was insufficient to be heard by K1VSG in Webster. Switched to CW &
signal was copied by K1VSG and stations in Leominster & Athol.
Verified 6M Simplex capability.
6M antenna at 140 feet was adequate for communications with Framingham
and Area 2 HQ in both SSB & FM modes.
6M antenna at 100 feet was not adequate for communications with
Framingham and Area 2 HQ in FM and barely adequate in SSB mode. This is
apparently due to both lower height and higher loss feedline.
6M FM Simplex contact was also made with Southwick Mobile EOC located
in known poor VHF location.
Inserted traffic into MARS Traffic System.
Successfully contacted AF MARS liaison station (KB2SAE) and passed 1
piece of traffic (WC1AAR # 106 to N1CPE).
Traffic Count
Originated: 5 Received: 17 Relayed: 23
Contacted ARES Packet Node
Did not receive any Weather transmissions from NWS Taunton on packet.
Maintained APRS Node during part of SET
Missed part of APRS message broadcast from MEMA Framingham HQ(N1CPE).
Secured station at 1210.
Critique:
Some interstation interference. Specifically, 146.97 was rendered
inoperable at times by operation on 146.985. Alinco 605 required
"resetting" to restore receive after each such occurrence.
ACTION ITEM: Investigate Alinco 605 “reset” problem
ACTION ITEM: Investigate interstation interoperability
Lack of pre-established preamble beyond “monthly drill” preamble
hindered operation.
ACTION ITEM: Prepare tailored emergency activity preamble
Alinco 605 using Dual Band antenna at 160 feet experienced distortion
of received 440 signals after transmitter had been used for “callups”.
Distortion disappeared after radio had chance to “cool down”. In
addition, signals (both receive and transmit) appeared to be lower than
those at station using Alinco and identical antenna at 120 feet. (Note:
Antenna at 160 feet has known Vswr problems, probably due to bad
feedline.) Additionally, the antenna at 80 feet used with the “old”
Kenwood functioned better than the 605 with the antenna at 160 feet.
ACTION ITEM: Try to duplicate this to verify poor Vswr as probable
cause of difficulty.
Area level activity was low. Many stations normally active during First
Monday drills did not participate. Early SET reports from other
participants in Area 3 indicate that many normally active stations were
participating in tactical operations and not available for the area
nets. Additionally, some “regulars” were on vacation and not available
for Area 3 activities.
All operators need additional training and practice in handling formal
traffic. This includes Area 3, Framingham and at least some towns.
(i.e. overly long messages, no CHECK, inconsistent word
counting/formatting by same operator/originator)
Operator manning radio on 146.91 reduced extraneous noise by using
headphones. This should be done on all stations. All stations (less
packet) should have comfortable headphones for use with each radio at
that station. (Adapters & /or switching as required.)
Area 3 Headquarters operators were not fully prepared or proficient in
use of all equipment.
- Digital operations (Packet, APRS, etc) rely on a single individual.
All operators need to be trained in the operation of the Packet station
(both normal and APRS).
Motorola (MCS2000) transceiver used on Area 3 Central and 3 West
frequencies has no users information (manual) available.
Insufficient experience as net control
Unfamiliarity with equipment (i.e. Alinco 605).
Many of these difficulties could be reduced by easier after-hours
access to Area 3 headquarters.
- The packet station needs to have a list of Node / Digipeater
locations and their associated direct frequencies.
All antenna feed lines (coax) should be better and more permanently
labeled.
- Packet (both normal and APRS) should be included in the monthly drill
if we are doing to maintain packet capabilities. Not necessarily each
month but at least a few times each year.
Summary:
Participation in area wide nets was low, but at least partially offset
by participation in individual community activities.
Area 3 HQ operators are still learning and becoming more comfortable
with required tasks and equipment capabilities. Based on this
exercise, expected performance in the event of an actual event would
be adequate.
Equipment status at Area 3 Headquarters is marginally adequate. Faulty
operation of newly installed antennas limits operation to either Area 3
East or Area 3 West, not both simultaneously.
Ultimately the effectiveness of communications from Area 3 is limited
to the availability of stations in effected communities. Approximately
ten (10) Area 3 communities were represented during the SET. More would
be expected during an actual event, but their overall effectiveness may
be limited.
Effective cooperation between RACES, ARES & MARS was demonstrated.
Respectfully Submitted,
MB SR
Michael Baril - N1PSE Steve Rodowicz - N1SR
MEMA Area 3 East RACES Officer MEMA Area 3 West RACES Officer
REPORT OF SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST ACTIVITY ON 146.91 MT. GREYLOCK
REPEATER BY DON HORTON N1ISB
Activities on the repeater took place from 0900 to 1200 local time on
Saturday 11 September. They included a SKYWARN drill net and several
sessions of RACES operational nets, as well as liaison
with Air Force MARS nets and American Red Cross sites.
The SKYWARN drill net covered a large area, with checkins from 5
counties in Massachusetts, 5 counties in New York State, and one in New
Hampshire. There were thirty stations participating, representing 21
cities and towns.
Two summary reports of simulated conditions were sent to the National
Weather Service Office at Taunton via amateur radio as formal message
traffic: one through MEMA Area Four West Headquarters; one via the MARS
route. Since no acknowledgement has been received at the time of this
filing, no comment can be made in this report. as to the efficiency of
the routes. Since an attempt to pass information directly during the
1997 SET failed due to the refusal of an NCS on one of the repeaters
to allow the traffic through, it will be interesting to learn whether
the situation has improved.
Unfortunately, HF would have proved to be an unuasble option, even if
the station at Taunton were up and running. Several stations here in
Berkshire County attempted to use or monitor the MEMA emergency
frequencies during the drill, but propagation was so bad that 75 meters
was unusable out here.
The Area 4 West RACES operation consisted of three nets interspersed
with the SKYWARN net.
The sharing of the repeater worked well -- there were no glitches and
no conflicts, although this might have been diffferent in a real storm
emergency. Had there been need to pass emergency storm reports during
one of these intervals, a conflict might have arisen. It is my
personal feeling that the MEMA callup procedure
should be streamlined: there is no need to call stations county-by
county. MEMA should also follow NTS procedure in originating messages,
keeping them to 25 words or less in text length. This is doable using
a telegrammatic style, and simply by writing good, tight English
sentences.
Total formal message traffic on this repeater during the drill was
nine. Considering that there were some transmission problems from
Belchertown (which were fixed during the drill), this went very well.
Fills were provided when needed.
The presence of Air Force MARS operators to act as an alternative
conduit for traffic was an asset, to say the least. Because of the
greater frequency flexibliity available to MARS, they can be a great
help in times of emergency.
Report from Southwick Emergency Management Agency (KB1CDL) by
Charles Dunlap, K1II:
Y2K activity in Southwick:
EOC opened by Keith N1MOC at 0730. Arrival at 0800 by Tyler N1YFH and
Charlie K1ii and Bernie N1WHA. Pauline, N1EVE operated relay HF and
checked into SKYWARN from home QTH on emergency power. 40 and 75 meters
but was not used due to solar flare message.Jim N1ZCL (RACES/ARES)
operated and checked into the EOC from home. Paul KA1TRF(ARES) checked
in as packet liaison for Southwick operating from home. At 0830 a 6
meter yagi three element was erected at twenty feet for the Southwick
EOC. The Mobile Communications Command vehicle was used to supplement
the EOC. Communications was established with: Navy MARS W1ALL Southwick
liaison, SKYWARN, Westfield / Granville / Belchertown MEMA Area 3/
Framingham MEMA HQ EOC's. Two meter simplex, repeater, 6meter simplex,
repeater was used. A test on 6 meters failed due to Alinco DX70-TH
failure at Southwick EOC. The scenerio was high wind drifting snow
during a Noreaster blizzard Jan. 1st 2001 with sporadic power
failures. The exercise lasted from 0730 to 1200 hours on September 11,
1999.
Respectfully,
Charles Dunlap K1ii
EMD Southwick / ARES AEC Hampden- West
Served Agency Station and Operator List:
NWS Taunton:
1 KD1CY Rob ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
MEMA HQ Framingham:
1 N1CPE Tom MEMA State RACES Radio Officer
2 W3EVE Steve ARES Eastern Mass. SEC
3 KE6DPL Dennis MEMA HQ RACES Radio Operator
4 W1RH Bob MEMA HQ RACES Radio Operator
5 KA1AXY Peter MEMA HQ RACES Radio Operator
MEMA Area I Tewksbury (WC1ABL):
1 W1LUS Bruce MEMA Area I Radio Operator
2 KA1KCU Ron MEMA Area I Radio Operator
MEMA Area II Bridgewater (WC1CAA):
1 WA1OEZ Bob MEMA Area II RACES Radio Officer
2 KD1NX Bill MEMA Area II RACES Radio Operator
3 N1MII Lenny MEMA Area II RACES Radio Operator
4 WA1CFS John MEMA Area II RACES Radio Operator
MEMA Area III Belechertown (WC1AAR):
1 N1SR Steve MEMA Area 3 West RACES Officer
2 N1PSE Mike MEMA Area 3 East RACES Officer
3 N1RLX Ray MEMA Area 3 West Radio Operator
4 N1WGX Bill MEMA Area 3 West Radio Operator
5 N1QKO Eric MEMA Area 3 West Radio Operator/
Assistant WMA SKYWARN Coordinator
Stations from the MEMA Framingham Log that do not appear in the
Net Reports from RACES Radio Officers and SKYWARN Coordinators/
Net Managers:
1 K3XL Brad Chelmsford
2 K2DLJ LaMont Chatam
3 KD1NQ Jeff Andover
4 W1VTX Tony Harwich
5 N1VDE Sidney Georgetown
6 N1OIL Paul Milton
7 N1LOG Fred Reading
8 N1LLG Dan Groton
9 W1LIO Arline Medfield
10 N1XQB Larry
11 WA1JUJ Kevin Granville
12 N1QGE Hugh Westford
146.955 Barnstable Repeater Cape and Islands Weather Net/
146.655 Falmouth Repeater/145.49 Fairhaven Repeater
1 N1XRS Tony Dartmouth
2 KA1VAX Betsy Plymouth
3 W1DPN Charlie Osterville
4 WA1GPO Phil East Falmouth
5 N1TZM Jim Fall River
6 WA1KCC Jim South Hyannis
7 WA1DLU Ira Brewster
8 AE2D Pete Eastham
9 WA1KDD Tom Acushnet
10 N1WJI Dennis Fairhaven
11 N1LTP Ed Norton
12 N1LNB Gene Waquoit
146.64 Waltham Repeater RACES/SKYWARN Net/
145.23 Boston Repeater Emergency Response Team Net
1 WA1R Marc Framingham (Waltham Repeater NCS)
2 N1VUX Bill Dorchester (Waltham Repeater NCS)
3 KB1CRY Guy Boston (Boston Repeater NCS)
4 N1KMM Rick Walpole
5 KB1MU Dave Wibraham
6 K1MO Dave Brighton
7 N1XKB Roger Wakefield
8 KB1DFN Natick EMA
9 N1TV Ed Newton
10 N1FWV Jeff Peabody
11 K1KAS Bob Billerica
12 W1CCE Al North Framingham
13 W1YGC Lenny Waltham
14 N1NHZ Arthur Boston
15 W1FGD Ed Braintree EMA
16 N1GJO Tom Marconi Station Wellfleet
17 KA1MOM Bill Brighton
18 WA1GEP Andy Waltham
19 WA1CRB Ishmail Cambridge
20 W1HGU Ned Marlborough EMA
21 N1OBL Tony Boston
22 KA1TUZ Dick Newton
23 KA1KCU Ron Sudbury
24 N1QIR Marty Nahant
25 AA1UA John Quincy
26 KB1DQT Andy (Mobile)
27 WX1G Dave Watertown
28 W1ZOP Charles Framingham
29 N6FM Ben Boston
146.925 Worcester Repeater/145.37 Templeton RACES/SKYWARN Net
1 W1SEX Paul Gardner
2 N1FZV Ed Athol
3 KA1VV Doug Westminster
4 WA1QZV Steve Gardner
5 W1TYW Norman Gardner
6 W1LMK Linda Athol
7 N1ZYG Mark Athol
8 N1WVE Chick Bare
9 N1SBM Ted Sutton
10 K1KWP Kevin Shrewsbury
11 KB0UYO Will Worcester
12 N1OAA Randy Baldwinville
147.180: Bridgewater Repeater SKYWARN Net
1 K1MTM Paul West Bridgewater
2 WA1GDJ Gil Abington
3 KA1DZA Bob Bridgewater
4 N1WWI Chris Middleboro
5 KA1JBE Joseph East Bridgewater
6 N1ZZN Jeff Hanson
7 W1DGD Harry East Bridgewater
8 KA1CYV Ray Middleboro
9 N1FYZ Carl Brockton
10 N1EDM Bob Brockton
11 N1NTC Ed Brockton
12 KD1KR George East Bridgewater
13 N1ZZR Matt Bridgewater
14 WA1ZUF Steve Bridgewater
15 KA1KHK Ed Abington (Mobile)
146.895: Norfolk County SKYWARN Net
1 0905 W1CMF, Charlie, Sharon
2 0908 W1ZSA, Roger, Director, Walpole EMA
3 0912 W1PAT, Pat, Walpole
4 0930 K1HC, Dick, Westwood
5 0933 N1TBK, John, W. Roxbury
6 0934 W1JAW, Jack, Braintree
7 0939 N1SBZ, Gene, checked in
8 0939 K1LBG, Joe, Wrentham, checked in
9 0942 KB1CYO, Phil, Foxboro, checked in
10 1050 KD1CY, Rob, NWS
11 1209 N1UEC, Lou, Walpole checked in.
12 1216 WA1ZJE, Bob mobile route 95 N at 495. 10KW generator in truck
13 1218 WA1AR, Alan, Wrentham, running 50W and battery power
14 1435 N1VUX, Bill mobile checked in.
15 1446 N2UTZ, Josh, mobile RT. 24
146.625 Haverhill Repeater RACES/SKYWARN Net
1. N1JUO** Rick Georgetown -T
2. KB1KR Davis Newburyport -E
3. N1YLJ* Manny Haverhill -T
4. KA1BSH* Jim Haverhill -T+ (Alt. Net Control Station)
5. N1YRD* John Lawrence -T
6. N1CSG* Richard Amesbury -E
7. N1QVS Ben Salem, NH -T+
8. WA1ESU* Fred Newburyport -T+
9. WA1VKO Murph East Hampstead, NH -T+
10. K1ESQ Collin Easton -T (Licensed less then 1 year)
11. KB1DOP* Harry Haverhill -T (Licensed less then 1 year)
12. KB1DDQ Ken (Mobile) -T
13. N1HLK Keith Marblehead -T+
14. N9PVF David N. Andover -A
15. N1VDX** Steve Haverhill -T+ (Net Control Station)
The following is a log of stations checking in with SKYWARN
reports. The comments column includes any other affiliations and /or
non-SKYWARN functions being handled during the SET.
146.91 Mount Greylock ARES/RACES/SKYWARN/MARS Net
903 N1ISB Don Berkshire Adams SKYWARN EC / NCS
908 N1VRC John Franklin Charlemont AF MARS Coordinator
908 N1PUA Paul Berkshire Lenoxdale
908 KB2SAE George Berkshire Pittsfield AF MARS Liaison
909 K2WG Wayne Columbia Canaan NY
909 KB1EAA David Berkshire Dalton
909 WA1WEJ Larry Hampshire Plainfield RACES
909 WA1ZHM John Berkshire Richmond RACES
913 N1QOV Obie Berkshire Pittsfield AF Mars / RACES
913 N1IVT Dan Hampden Holyoke AF MARS / RedCross
913 KB1EHR Kim Berkshire Pittsfield
924 KB1CDL Charlie Hampden Southwick EOC (K1II)
927 KB1EHS Linda Berkshire Pittsfield
951 KA1PIJ Stephen Berkshire Lenoxdale ARES EC
951 N1EVE Pauline Hampden Southwick EOC
1002 KT4IO Albert Franklin Charlemont
1031 KD2LE Warren Berkshire Hancock
1039 K2ZVL Van Hamilton Indian Lake NY
1041 K1SAV Alan Rensaelaer Grafton NY
1054 N1NNT Peter Cheshire Chesterfield NH
1109 N1XHR Todd Berkshire Pittsfield
1111 KC2AVI Steve Saratoga Ballston Spa NY
1111 N1YCW Bruce Berkshire North Adams
1149 N2YTT Peter Saratoga Ballston Spa NY
1152 N1PTZ Tim Berkshire West Stockbridge
1153 N1JFK Jerry Worcester Westminster
1155 KB2IBT Guy Schenectady Schenectady NY
1156 N1QKO Eric Hampshire Belchertown RACES
1200 KB1CIT Richard Hampshire Deerfield
1200 N1LZH PatriciaBerkshire Pittsfield
All stations were located in Southwick at the Southwick EOC and
Southwick EMA Headquarters.
K1II Charlie Southwick
N1MOC Keith Southwick
N1YFH Tyler Southwick
N1EVE Pauline Southwick
N1ZCL Jim Southwick (ARES/RACES)
KA1TRF Paul Southwick (ARES)
W1ALL George Southwick (Navy MARS)
N1WHA Bernice Southwick
Mount Tom 146.94 ARES/RACES/SKYWARN Net
RACES Stations:
KB1CDL Charlie Southwick Mobile EOC
KB1EGR Mark Westfield EOC
N1MHH Ron Charlton RO
N1RKY Earl Belchertown
N1MFT Willard Sunderland Amherst RACES
Other Stations:
KA1LB Paul South Hadley
Paxton 146.97 Area III East RACES Net
RACES Stations:
AA1LQ Gary Webster
KA1OTQ Bob Milbury
AA2T Jerry Leominster
WA1FIA Chatmon Leominster
K1VSG Dennis Webster WMA SEC
N1REL Mark Millville EMA Director
N1KKY Tom Athol
N1MHH Ron Charlton RACES Officer
W1TEM Ron Rhode Island State EOC
Other Stations:
KB1DVU Gary Palmer
N1XPA John Harrisville, RI
WX1L Jim Shrewsbury
Greenfield 146.985
RACES Stations:
None
ARES Stations:
N1SCC Bill Greenfield Franklin County EC
N1EWK Bill Greenfield
MASSACHUSETTS STATE WIDE SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST
FINAL REPORT ON Y2K / ICE STORM ACTIVATION
FOR NORTHERN ESSEX COUNTY
HAVERHILL MA 146.625 REPEATER
This is a list by station that checked into the Haverhill Skywarn
Weather Net during the Y2K/Ice Storm Simulated Emergency Test
The section 1E Races Net and the Skywarn Emergency Weather Net shared
this repeater with no problems to report.
The Haverhill Repeater operated on EMERGENCY POWER throughout the
entire Simulation.
Station Check-in list is in a prvious portion of this report.
HAVERHILL, MA SKYWARN Reporting to National Weather Service Taunton, MA
Date Sept/11/1999 Day Sat .
Time Call Sign Name Location Severe Wx Description
(Local)
09:00 N1JUO Rick Georgetown Check-In
09:00 KB1KR Newburyport (EOC) Check-In
09:00 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) Check-In
09:00 KA1BSH Jim Haverhill Check-In
09:00 WA1VKO Murph Seabrook, NH Check-In
09:00 N1YRD John Lawrence Check-In
09:00 N1QVS Ben Salem, NH Check-In
09:00 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport Check-In
09:45 N1CSJ Rich Amesbury High winds/Freezing rain/
1/2" ice on trees and wires
09:45 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport Newburyport EOC on emergency power
09:46 N1JUO Rick Georgetown Georgetown sub-station off line @
(Unknown Y2K or Ice storm)
09:52 N1YRD John Lawrence 1/4 to 1/2" ice / High winds
09:53 N1JUO Rick Georgetown Town main power feeder line down/
Full town power outage/
60MPH winds/ Freezing
drizzle/ Thunder
09:54 KA1BSH Jim Haverhill Will be off freq. For 10-15
(alt. NCS) minutes
09:54 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Emergency units out working
on high voltage wires/
most of city w/o power
10:05 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) EOC on Emergency power due to
ice/ some sporadic power outages
10:09 N1JUO Rick Georgetown (EOC)3/4" ice / town roads
impassable / T-Storm passed to the east
10:11 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Tree vs. House on Purchase St. /
Fire Dept Responding
10:13 N1YRD John Lawrence Ice/Snow mix / temp 27F /
1/2" ice / commercial power
10:13 N1JUO Rick Georgetown(EOC) Town well Field out of service due to power
failure / no water supply to town
10:16 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)One (1) trapped in Purchase
St. house incident
10:23 N1JUO Rick Georgetown (EOC)Police cruiser T.A. Rt.113 /
95 Numerous cars off road o
on interstate 95
10:25 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) One (1) emergency shelter
open/ EOC has lose power, telephone. Hale
Hospital (Haverhill) on Emergency power
10:28 N1YRD John Lawrence Ice/Snow mix / cable-telephone
down/ 27F / Scattered power outages
10:31 N1JUO Rick Georgetown (EOC)1.5" ice / Y2K Radio problem
to town DPW- radios down / POSSIBLE
EVACUATION of Baldpate
Hospital due to power failure.
10:35 N1JUO Rick Georgetown(EOC) ASKING FOR THE SKYWARN NET TO
PASS TRAFFIC TO MEMA
ABOUT THE POSSIBLE
EVACUATION OF BALDPATE HOSPITAL
10:35 KA1BSH Jim Haverhill Requested to pass traffic from EOC
Georgetown to MEMA
concerning the evacuation
of Baldpate Hospital
10:44 N1YRD John Lawrence Lawrence General Hospital closed
for admissions./ All being sent to Holy Cross
hospital Methuen / Power down / 1.25" ice
10:44 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) 1 inch ice
10:48 KA1BSH Jim Haverhill Traffic passed to MEMA
10:58 K1WSQ Collin Amesbury Interstate 495 White
(mobile) out conditions / Gusts 50-60 MPH
11:00 KA1DOP Harry Haverhill Shelter opened via town @ Golden
Hill School / Senior
Center has Emergency power
failure / 2 people trapped in elevator
11:06 N1JUO Rick Georgetown (EOC)Running on Emergency power
only (real time)
11:07 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) Running on Emergency Power
only (real time)
11:07 N1YRD John Lawrence Running on Emergency Power only
(real time)
11:10 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Running on Emergency Power
only (real time)
11:12 N1CJS Rich Amesbury Running on Emergency Power only
(real time)
11:14 N1JUO Rich Georgetown 2.5" ice / All roads impassable
11:15 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Trees down throughout town/
Purchase St. still working by FD
11:17 N1CSJ Rich Amesbury Change over to ice/snow mix / Still
on commercial power
11:27 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Change over to ice/snow mix
12:06 N1JOU Rick Georgetown(EOC) Change over to ice/snow mix
at 11:45 / 26F
12:10 N1YRD John Lawrence Operating on Emergency power/25F/Lawrence general
Hospital reports minor Y2K
Problems (non-life threatening)
12:15 N1CJS Rich Amesbury Loss of commercial Power
12:16 KA1BSH Jim Haverhill Requested to pass traffic to NWSFO
Taunton to come up on the
146.625 Haverhill repeater
12:20 WA1ESU Fred Newburyport(EOC)Update on Purchase St
incident- one (1) injured
/ Running on commercial power
12:52 N1CSJ Rich Amesbury Snow/ Sleet mix / Snow starting to
drift with high winds
12:56 N1YLJ Manny Haverhill (EOC) Fire dispatch reports main
antenna down
13:00 N1JUO Rich Georgetown (EOC)6 inches heavy snow/ 30 Knot
winds / 2 ½ ice / 29F
14:19 KB1DDQ Ken Merrimac Sleet/ ice
(Mobile 495 N)
14:22 N1HLK Keith Marblehead Slush / commercial power
14:40 N1CSJ Rich Amesbury Commercial power restored
14:42 N9PVF David N. Andover Multiple trees down blocking Rt.
114 / High voltage lines down
14:47 N1YRD John Lawrence 24F / Freezing rain / multiple power outages /
three (3) known casualties - 2 from
motor vehicle accidents -
one (1) from Hospital Y2K glitch
15:00 KD1CY Rob National Wx SKYWARN NET SECURED GRANTED
Submitted by Steve Woodward N1VDX
Skywarn Coordinator Northern Essex County
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
SEMCARES Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@pop.ma.ultranet.com
Packet Address: KD1CY @ AA1FS
http://www.ultranet.com/~rmacedo
Back to the Eastern Mass. ARES/RACES/SKYWARN homepage